Fat Freddy's Drop @ Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington
Fat Freddy's Drop play 21 years of Based On A True Story, front to back
Fat Freddy's Drop are like a old well worn pair of audio slippers you just slip on and while away the afternoon in.
They're named after a stronger than usual batch of LSD doing the rounds in Wellington around the time they formed. Nothing is more Wellington than an inside joke for a band name. The tunes though - no laughing matter indeed - you'd be tripping to not love this soul funk jam band spectacular. Wellington was ready to skank.
This was my third time seeing them, London in 2007, The Opera House in 2013, and there's dim memories of the Matterhorn but who really remembers those?
It was 21 years since their big record Based On A True Story, and they marked it with three nights at the Michael Fowler Centre. Three nights! That's huge for Wellington, and testimony to their old school prestige. It's always nice to be in the group that bought their tickets fast, and consequently Jo and I caught the first night.
The crowd was out for a good time, a good old skank and boogie, there to relive the memories of their youth just as much as the record itself. It was unusually smoky upstairs, for the MFC at least, and the acoustics as expected were top drawer.
They played the album front to back, at least all the tracks I remember, with a couple of extras mixed into the longer jams. The band were tight, although some of them are not original you wouldn't know if you didn't check on Wikipedia, and Dallas Tamaira's vocals are just as sweet and soulful as back in the day.
There were references to Mu, the DJ in the original band, who died last July. It was tastefully done, not overly sad, but with huge aroha.
A couple of songs went from indulgent to meandering, which happens sometimes with jam bands. It never got truly boring, but some moments dragged.
Overall Wellington had a good old walk down memory lane, the band were top drawer, and we paid our respects. Comfy slippers indeed.
Photos from the gig
